Issue #27 – “How To” Series

In This Issue:

How To Design Your Classroom

&

How To Gather Information on your Students Before the Start of School

How To Design Your Classroom

Introduction

Step I – Classroom Design-(Resource Room and Self Contained classroom only – Inclusion Class teachers proceed to Step II)

Setting up the physical structure of your classroom is a personal choice. However, some logical reasoning should be utilized when determining the layout of the room. In a resource room and self- contained special education classroom, there are several designs that you can consider:

Station oriented model
In this model, the room arrangement is divided into stations that contain specific content area materials. For example, there might be a reading center, math center, computer center, writing center etc. in which specific children go to work on their specific IEP goals. Houghton Mifflin (2006) lists several different types of learning areas:

 

• Whole-Group Area
  For whole-class lessons — this includes informal discussion, direct instruction, and student presentations. This is a good place for an Author’s Chair from which students can read their writing to the class.
• Small-Group Area 
  Here you can give small-group instruction or allow groups of students to gather for peer-led discussions.
• Reading Area
  This is a place for students to read independently or quietly with a partner. It should provide comfortable seating, a variety of books, and a quiet, secluded atmosphere.
• Writing Center 
  Here students write independently and collaboratively. The area should contain comfortable space for writing and a variety of supplies.
• Cross-Curricular Center 
  This is an active center where students explore relationships across different curricula, including literature, science, social studies, art, and math.
• Computer Station
  This area is for computer use in writing, math, reading, keyboard practice, research, telecommunications, and creative games.
• Creative Arts Center
  This area is where students can get involved in visual art and dramatic play. It should have a variety of art supplies, costumes, and props.
• Communication Area/Post Office
  This area has mail slots for students and teacher to exchange written messages and suggestions.
• Listening Station
  Here students listen to tapes of books, stories, songs, and poems.

When setting up your room with a station or learning center approach, take the physical features of your classroom into account when planning. As the school year progresses, you can change or add learning centers to fit your class’s evolving needs.   Keep the following things in mind if you use this type of design:

a) Different learning areas should be partitioned off through the use of bookshelves.

b) Provide comfortable seating by having the children bring in seat cushions.

c) Save space by using walls for posters, display shelves, books, and supplies.

d) Keep computers facing away from windows to keep glare from sunlight off the screens.

e) Separate learning centers of high activity, such as the cross-curricular center, from areas like the Reading/Language Arts Center, where students need quiet.

f) Set aside an area to meet with small groups. Allow enough seating for about eight students.

Child oriented model

In this type of setting, the room is arranged so that the children are separated to avoid distraction and increase concentration. Here, the teacher moves from student to student. Since most of the work is individualized, the teacher and the assistant can work on specific limitations for each child with special needs.

 

Teacher center model

In this type of design, the teacher’s work table or area is the center of the room. In this way, the teacher can work with several children at a time and monitor their progress. If the teacher feels a child needs less distraction, he/she can be moved to another part of the room with or without the assistant teacher.

 

Step II – A-Designing Your Classroom (Inclusion class)

In this instance there may be very little to do depending on the relationship between you and the regular education teacher. If you are hired for an elementary inclusion class, the general education teacher may set up the room. However, your input would be helpful and you may want to ask if he/she has any concerns about the room design in light of the children with special needs.  In this case, assist the teacher, making suggestions if you feel they will better serve the population of children with disabilities, e.g., quiet corner or study carrel to avoid distractions. If you are hired as an inclusion teacher at the high school, then there may be less to do with setting up the room, since many different teachers will be using that same room. However, try to assist the teacher and suggest anything that you feel might help.

The following comments concerning setting up your classroom come from teachers who posted their thoughts at the University of North Carolina, School of Education (2005) comment board:

I was fortunate enough to have my own classroom during my first year of teaching. My school building was too small to provide every faculty member that luxury. Some colleagues taught in a different room every period, using carts to transport their materials. Others, at neighboring schools, settled into trailers that had been rented to handle an unexpected increase in the number of students enrolled.

I was grateful, but had no time to dwell on my good fortune. Students were coming in less than a week and I needed to focus on developing my course materials and management systems. I had a minimal amount of time to set up a physical classroom. Still, I knew my students would benefit from a positive environment. The previous history teacher had been kind enough to leave pictures to decorate the wall space, but those images did not create the atmosphere we needed. Every portrait displayed the head of a white male who had been a “Creator of Your Country!!!” There were no pictures of women, ethnic minorities or anyone under the age of fifty. Would my students feel a sense of belonging and engagement in a classroom like this?

I quickly replaced the pictures with a more diverse array of images and began moving desks, adding plants and organizing the board space. I created folders for students, a filing system for my materials and hung a “welcome” sign on the door. I thought I had covered the basics. I didn’t discover the infamous “guillotine window” until a few weeks later when it slid shut forcefully and unexpectedly, nearly removing the arm of a student. I didn’t learn that the carpet would be soaked after every rainstorm until I had ruined the teacher’s edition of our textbook by leaving it on the floor near my desk.

My point? If you’re a new teacher, one of your first jobs will be to set up your classroom. You’ll want to do it quickly so you can focus on other aspects of teaching, but you want to do it well so that it becomes an environment in which your students can learn. There will be some hurdles that you cannot anticipate — guillotine windows for example. But the purpose of this post is to encourage you to talk to teachers in your building about classroom issues that might affect you and your students — and to provide a few practical tips that could save you some time, frustration and money as you begin a new year.

Other issues to consider for setting up your classroom should include:

1.Check school policies
Before designing your classroom, ask if there are any school policies that affect classroom displays. Some principals require you to post daily objectives. Many schools have fire policies that prohibit hanging paper signs on the door.

2.Plan for inspiration
Use a portion of your space to inspire students. This could mean hanging engaging posters about content or attitude. Or if you are planning to display student work, post a sign above the area that says “ALL of my students are capable of excellence. These really showed it on a recent assignment!” (Make sure you print letters large enough for students to read!)

3. Save plenty of space for information
If you need students to access certain types of information daily, create a consistent space for them to find it. For example, you could post permanent signs at the front of the room that say “Objectives”, “Warm Up Activity” and “Homework” and use the area near these signs to provide details about each. Also have a space where the date is consistently posted, and make sure your name is posted at the beginning of the year.

I also recommend having a section of the room devoted to students who have been absent. If you decide to do this:

Label the space clearly. I have a sign that simply asks “Were you absent?”

Hang a calendar nearby to help students identify the day of school they missed.

Use a small filing cabinet to house an activity log (listing the work completed each day) and blank copies of all assignments (labeled with titles matching those in the activity log) 
After you introduce students to the space, they become responsible for identifying days they miss, checking the log for work completed on those days, gathering the blank assignments, completing the work and submitting it to you.

4. Protect what you post
If you’re going to display any poster in your classroom for more than a month — or want to use a temporary poster again next year — laminate it before you hang it on your wall. Otherwise, you’ll need to recreate it after it is tattered and torn. Many of your schools will have laminating machines. If they don’t, other teachers will be able to tell you where the service is provided in your area. Make sure you check the school limits on use or prices at stores before making final decisions about what to laminate!

5. Make it stick
Ask other teachers in your building what adhesives work on the school walls. I once spent hours creating a display only to find it on the floor of my room the next day. Tape works on some walls. Others require puddy. I have heard that hot glue guns work on the concrete walls in many schools. Finally, you can nail things into the walls. The nails are especially good for holding clipboards (if you want to clip a sign in sheet near your door) and bathroom passes (if you use anything larger than a paper pass).

6. Leave space for colleagues
Leave space for other teachers who use the room. If you have your own classroom, but other teachers use it during your planning period or after school, leave them a drawer in your filing cabinet and sections of the board and wall. Have a conversation about what else they might need. This is important to preserve both your materials and your relationship with colleagues.

If you are a traveling teacher, initiate a conversation about space sharing with teachers you encounter in those travels. Get a copy of keys for each room in which you’ll be teaching and ask the administration if there is a quiet corner where you can have a desk and filing cabinet that is all your own.

7. Arrange desks thoughtfully 
Consider your teaching style, management style and the needs of other teachers using the room when arranging the desks. You may decide to use rows, clusters, a circle or some other configuration. Design with a purpose in mind!

8. Lock it up
Have at least one small closet or drawer in your classroom that can be locked, even if you have to add a small lock yourself. You’ll need this area for confidential files and personal items. (This lesson cost me one camera and some priceless pictures on the roll of film inside it. It cost another teacher her gradebook the week before our grades were due.)

9. Be cheap
Save money on supplies! Ask a colleague what supplies are provided, how you can get them and if teachers are given a certain amount to spend on their classroom each year. If there are things you need to buy on your own, ask retailers if they have discounts for teachers. Office Max, Staples and Barnes and Nobles all offer price reduction on classroom supplies, and other stores in your area might too. For most, you will need evidence of your educator status — a school ID badge, union card or pay stub works well. Finally, save all of your receipts. If your school offers money later, you could be reimbursed for purchases if you still have the paperwork. Those receipts also help during tax season since purchases for work are tax-deductible.

10. Keep track of textbooks
Number your textbooks and create a system for loaning books out to students who forget theirs. Students have to pay up to $60 for lost books, so you don’t want any confusion about which book they had or whether it was returned to you. Track which books are assigned to each student by noting each student’s book number next to his or her name in your gradebook. Create labels with your name and room number to place on every textbook so that lost books can be returned to you.

Also, decide if you are willing to lend books to students who do not bring their own copy to class. If you do loan books, track them with a sign-out sheet — I’ve created a sample textbook sign-out sheet in MS Word format that you can use as a template. Finally, if you can, wait a few days to distribute the books. Students transfer in and out of classes at the beginning of the year, and when a student leaves, textbooks can disappear.

11. Prepare for emergencies (but don’t create them)
Locate the emergency call button in your room and learn how to use the intercom system. You don’t want to accidentally signify an emergency when you’re trying to answer a page from the office on your first day!

12. Be ready to file
Create your own filing system. You will need places to 
record and store your lesson plans and resources 
file administrative materials such as: student IEP’s, notes from faculty meetings, a parent contact log, discipline log, a faculty handbook, student handbook, hall passes, sub plans, passcodes (for the computers and phones) and important contact numbers. 
Although this may all feel a bit overwhelming, hopefully organizing your classroom now will save you time later. Doing it quickly will allow more time for developing your curriculum and management systems. Doing it effectively will create a space in which your students can thrive.

 

Helpful Sites for Information on Setting up a Classroom

https://inspiredclassrooms.wordpress.com/setting-up-a-classroom/ Teacher comments and direction for setting up a classroom

https://forums.atozteacherstuff.com/showthread.php?t=6501 : Teacher comments about setting up a classroom

https://www.washington.edu/doit/Faculty/Strategies/Universal/: Universal Design of Instruction: Designing any product or environment involves the consideration of many factors including aesthetics, engineering options, environmental issues, safety concerns, and cost. Often the design is created for the “average” user. In contrast universal design is “the design of products and environments to be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized design.”

 

Step III-Evaluating what you have and ordering new materials

Do not be surprised that when you enter your room for the first time you find very few materials available for use. What you need to do is hope for the best and prepare for the worst. In the worst case scenario, you will need to catalog what is available to you. The following checklist might help determine what you have available and what you may need to order:

 

Furniture

Chairs	Tables	Round Table
Computer table or cart	Bookshelves	Blackboard
Portable blackboard	Book carts	Filing Cabinets
Children’s mailboxes or cubby holes	Closets for storage	Teacher’s desk & chair

Classroom Supplies

Writing, drawing, and construction paper	Pencils/Pens	Paper clips
Crayons	Paste/glue	Rubber bands
Stapler/staples	Straight and safety pins	Transparent tape
Manila file folders	Marking pens	Rulers
Art supplies	Grade book	Lesson plan book
Attendance materials	Textbooks/workbooks	Boxes for keeping units
Calculator	Post-it notes	Kleenex
Hole punch	Pencil sharpener	Lined & blank paper
Scissors	Chalk board erasers	Graph paper in several sizes
Pencil grips	markers	12″ and 3′ rulers
gummed reinforcements for 3-holed paper	pencil erasers	pencil holder
key ring	personal a coffee cup or beverage mug	5 x 8 index cards
changing files	push tacks & safety pins	calendar
small size legal pads	small screwdriver for glasses repair	small sewing kit and tool kit

Academic Materials

Textbooks at several levels	Workbooks & Worksheets
Reading Programs	Math Programs

Technology

Computer	Printer & Color Printer	Scanner
Cable hook up to the Internet	Internet access	Word Processing program
Reading Software	Math Software	Spelling Software
Writing Software	Voice Recognition software and devices	Magnification devices

Summary

In summary, the atmosphere of your classroom will go a long way in minimizing problems and hopefully provide your students with a warm, comfortable, logical, and exciting atmosphere in which to work.

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There are a variety of settings in which you may be hired in the field of special education including a resource room, self-contained special class or an inclusion setting. This article, which will be presented in several parts over the next few weeks, focuses on various steps that should be taken to insure the welfare of the children, the appropriate educational setting, information that should be gathered, communicating with related service providers, parents, paraprofessionals, assistant teachers, and other areas to make your job easier and more rewarding. This article assumes nothing and provides important information for all three settings. When noted, certain information is best suited for a specific type of setting. If not noted, then assume that the information being presented applies to all three settings.

Part I-What to do Before the Start of School

The best advice in preparing for a new school year is to begin as early as possible. There are many things that you can do before the start of school that will facilitate your experience and make the school year more productive for you and your students. The first day of school should not be the first day you learn about your students. This would be a major mistake and will inevitably make classroom management more difficult.

Step I-Learn as much about the students as possible before school begins

The very first step in setting up the room actually involves getting to know the students that will be in your classroom before the first day of school. It is imperative that you find out as much information about each student as possible, so that you are fully prepared when he/she walks in the room for the first time.  You will be amazed about the wealth of available materials on each child if you know where to look. The only exception to this may be a new student to the school from another city or state where materials may not have yet arrived. If this is the case, there are several things you can still do which we will discuss later. When working with students with disabilities, information on the child can be found in the following possible places:

• Number and types of schools attended: You should be able to ascertain this information by the school names on the report cards found in the permanent folder. For some children with disabilities, this may be their first year in a mainstreamed school. They may require added attention and support in the transition.

 

• Medical records: This information can be gathered from the school nurse’s office. Pay close attention to vision and hearing levels, medications, allergies, and any other medical issues that might need attention in the classroom.

 

• Permanent record folder: This folder should contain all the basic information on the child i.e. phone, address, parent’s names, date of birth, sibling’s names and ages.  It is usually stored in the main office.

 

• Past teachers’ reports: These items may be among those found in the permanent record folder or may be part of the child’s report card forms.

 

• Past report cards: These items may present you with patterns of performance in many academic areas, including both strengths and areas of concern. These should also be contained in the permanent record folder.

 

• Group achievement scores: These materials, if accurate, can also provide a pattern of strengths and areas in need of improvement. However, be very careful about drawing any conclusions from low scores unless other information backs up your impressions, e.g., classroom performance, teachers’ reports. Sometimes children who are experiencing academic problems may not try as hard as possible for fear of failure. Consequently, the resulting scores may not reflect true achievement levels.

 

• IEP: A very crucial piece of information is the child’s most recent Individual Educational Program. Keep in mind that since the reauthorization of IDEA in 204 there have been any changes to the IEP.  However, in general, the IEP will contain the following statements:

 

Present levels of achievement and educational performance: This statement describes how your student is currently doing in school. This includes how your student’s disability affects his or her involvement and progress in the general curriculum.

Annual goals: The IEP must state annual goals for your student, meaning what you and the school team think he or she can reasonably accomplish in a year. The goals must relate to meeting the needs that result from your student’s disability. They must also help your students be involved in and progress in the general curriculum. 

Special education and related services to be provided:The IEP must list the special education and related services to be provided to your students. This includes supplementary aids and services (such as a communication device). It also includes changes to the program or supports for school personnel that will be provided for your students.

Participation with nondisabled students:How much of the school day will your student be educated separately from nondisabled students or not participate in extracurricular or other nonacademic activities such as lunch or clubs? The IEP must include an explanation that answers this question.

Participation in state and district-wide assessments: Your state and district probably give tests of student achievement in certain grades or age groups. In order to participate in these tests, your students may need individual modifications or changes in how the tests are administered. The IEP team must decide what modifications your student needs and list them in the IEP. If your students will not be taking these tests, the IEP must include a statement as to why the tests are not appropriate for your students and how your students will be tested instead.

Dates and location: The IEP must state (a) when services and modifications will begin; (b) how often they will be provided; (c) where they will be provided; and (d) how long they will last.

Transition goals and services:No later than when your students are16, the IEP must include measurable postsecondary goals related to training, education, employment, and (when appropriate) independent living skills. Also included are the transition services needed to help your students reach those goals, including what your students should study.

Measuring progress: The IEP must state how school personnel will measure your student’s progress toward the annual goals. It must also state how parents will be informed regularly of their child’s progress and whether that progress is enough to enable your student to achieve his or her goals by the end of the year.

You will need to become very familiar with all the changes under the new law since you will be involved in writing the child’s new IEP at this year’s Annual Review. For more information on the changes in the IEP under IDEA 2004 go to:

• Informational Site #1 – PDF File
• Wrightslaw – IEP Information
• IDEA FAQ – Information From the US Government

This vital information necessary for learning about your students is usually not found in the permanent record folder. It can normally be obtained from several sources including:

a-The office of Pupil Personnel Services/Special Education Office 
b-The psychologist’s file on the child
c-The special education folder on the child. This file is normally passed from teacher to teacher. However this folder may be in a main file in the office of the special education coordinator for your building.

 

• Health alerts: This piece of medical information may be found on the front page of the child’s IEP. If something is noted, then it becomes your professional responsibility to learn as much as possible on that health condition. You want to understand the child’s health issues, as well as sound knowledgeable when speaking with parents about these issues. While you are not a medical professional, it is recommended that you find out as much as possible about the condition so that you sound professional and prepared when you meet with the parent. It will be very reassuring to parents when they see that you have an understanding of any conditions that their children may be facing.

 

• Classification: Find out as much as possible about the child’s specific disability classification as you can. You may already be knowledgeable about the disability but it never hurts to learn more. This knowledge base can only gain you respect from staff and parents.  Numerous sources on all of the different disability categories can be found on the NASET website.

 

• Modifications: Modifications are adjustments to the child’s classroom or test requirements that try to level the “playing field” with his/her nondisabled peers. Examples of modifications may be extended time when taking tests, taking tests in a smaller, less noisy environment, questions read, and answering questions in the test booklet rather than an answer sheet.  Look for the classroom and test modifications that the child is entitled to have. These are listed somewhere in the IEP. Investigate each modification thoroughly, and fully understand what is involved and the possible reasons as to the rationale for why these were deemed appropriate. You will need to fully understand these modifications since you will very likely be communicating and explaining them to the child’s other teachers.

 

• Accommodations: There may be times when a child is entitled to some classroom accommodation. Examples of these include special furniture, filters for lighting, acoustic enhancements etc. Again investigate and become knowledgeable of each accommodation. The list of accommodations for each student should be clearly described in the IEP.

 

• Related services: The IEP will also contain a section on the related services that the child is entitled to have while in school. The term related services means transportation, and such developmental, corrective, and other supportive services (including speech-language pathology and audiology services, psychological services, physical and occupational therapy, recreation, including therapeutic recreation, social work services, counseling services, including rehabilitation counseling, orientation and mobility services, and medical services, except that such medical services shall be for diagnostic and evaluation purposes only) as may be required to assist a child with a disability to benefit from special education, and includes early identification and assessment of disabling conditions in children. (20 U.S.C. Section 1401(22))

 

• Assistive technology: When looking at your student’s IEP you may notice that some of them are entitled to assistive technology. Assistive technology devices are mechanical aids which substitute for or enhance the function of some physical or mental ability that is impaired. Assistive technology can be anything homemade, purchased off the shelf, modified, or commercially available which is used to help an individual perform some task of daily living. The term assistive technology encompasses a broad range of devices from “low tech” (e.g., pencil grips, splints, paper stabilizers) to “high tech” (e.g., computers, voice synthesizers, Braille readers). These devices include the entire range of supportive tools and equipment from adapted spoons to wheelchairs and computer systems for environmental control. It will be your responsibility to learn as much as possible about this assistive technology device for each student. A good start in understanding the basics of assistive technology can be found at the University of Buffalo site: https://atto.buffalo.edu/

 

• Ability levels: It is important to determine, if possible, the child’s present levels of academic, social and intellectual ability. These levels, which are measured by many sources, can usually be found in several areas:

 

a–the permanent record folder: look for a group IQ test, or a test that offers a score labeled “School Abilities Index.” These group measures may offer you some insight. Again, be careful of using low scores to determine ability for the same reasons as mentioned previously.

b–the psychologist’s office: look up the last triennial report which should have some measure of ability noted. The triennial evaluation is the evaluation on a child with a disability that is done every three years. The main purpose of the triennial evaluation is to measure the child’s present levels and determine whether the conditions that were used in the original classification are still present.

c–The child’s IEP: the IEP may contain an ability level. The child’s ability level is usually measured through individual ability tests like the Wechsler Scales of Intelligence or the Stanford Binet Test of Intelligence. The ability levels may be reported in ranges i.e. average, above average, or in specific scores i.e. 112, 85. Therefore you should become familiar with IQ ranges and within what ranges specific scores may fall. The following table may help you in understanding this issue:

IQ SCORE	PERCENTILE	DESCRIPTION
160 – 169	0.03	VERY SUPERIOR
150 – 159	0.2	VERY SUPERIOR
140 – 149	1.1	VERY SUPERIOR
130 – 139	3.1	SUPERIOR
120 – 129	8.2	SUPERIOR
110-119	18.1	HIGH AVERAGE
100 – 109	23.5	HIGH AVERAGE
90 – 99	23.0	NORMAL OR AVERAGE
80 – 89	14.5	LOW AVERAGE
70 – 79	5.6	BORDERLINE DEFECTIVE
60 – 69	2.0	MENTALLY DEFECTIVE
50 – 59	0.4	MENTALLY DEFECTIVE
40 – 49	0.2	MENTALLY DEFECTIVE
30 – 39	0.03	MENTALLY DEFECTIVE

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d– Past teachers’ comments about the child’s ability levels: Past teacher comments can tell you a great deal about patterns of strengths and weaknesses, and a history of certain behaviors and academic skill problems. These may be found on past report cards. If they are not you may want to contact some of the child’s past teachers to gather information.

These points should offer you a very good beginning in learning as much as possible about your students before school begins. Experience has shown us that the more groundwork you do before school begins the easier the transition will be for your students and parents.

The next part will deal with meeting parents and students before school, meeting with assistant teachers, paraprofessionals, related service providers, classroom teachers and other professional staff members that will be involved with your students.

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NASET’s “How To” Gather Information on your Students Before the Start of School – CLICK HERE

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